Changes are coming to inmate cell locks at the Forsyth County Jail two weeks after 12 Investigates first exposed how easy they are to pop. Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough gave 12 Investigates a tour Tuesday. According to Kimbrough, it was the first time any media outlet has had access to this detail. Top Stories Family remembers woman killed in West Gate City Boulevard shooting; police continue search for suspects Woman reported missing from Stokes County arrested in Oklahoma after stealing van, sheriff's office says 39-year-old woman killed following Friday night shooting on East 23rd StreetGet the latest news stories of interest by clicking herePart of the tour was an explanation of the locking mechanisms and the motions in progress to get them replaced. Kimbrough said a new locking system that was recently approved by county commissioners will help keep inmates inside their cells. It will also give detention officers a heads-up by allowing them to be more proactive in any attempted escapes."The new lock system, when you start tampering with them, the electronic features on them, will let you know and the hardware is totally different to where it will crush something like that," Kimbrough said. Kimbrough said, as of Tuesday, there are 756 inmates locked up at the Forsyth County Jail. He says hearing about locks being popped isn't too alarming despite the danger county commissioners have said it creates for detention officers."You're going to have issues like that because you have a population that's sitting around all day, figuring out, 'How do I manipulate?' Whether it's the lock or whatever it is," Kimbrough said."I think it's an inmate, as well as, it can be a detention officer issue," said Forsyth County Commissioners Chairman Don Martin.Kimbrough says around August, they started assigning maintenance crews to make rounds every other day and clear out the old and faulty locks that may have been tampered with."We have a team going around checking the guts of the lock, making sure they're clean," Kimbrough said.He hopes the new locks will cut down on the number of escapes. Kimbrough says the new ones will begin being installed in about three months — with crews changing 700 doors in total, replacing three locks per day.That totals out to at least a seven-month-long project. Martin said Tuesday that beginning the lock replacement process in three months is possible, but ultimately, no dates for replacing those locks have been set. "The commissioners have discussed the lock situation at several meetings. We are in the process of preparing a Request for Proposals to solicit bids from vendors and once completed, we will advertise and send RFPs to all manufacturers. No dates determined yet," Martin wrote to 12 Investigates. "As of last Thursday, the RFP was not on the street. There are lots of details that must be included in the RFP — like demonstrating that they really work on our old cell doors. And I'm sure that all manufacturers have a time frame for delivery and installation."Damon Sanders-Pratt, deputy manager for the Forsyth County Government Center, said Tuesday the RFP was published Oct. 6, and proposals are due back Nov. 3. "After Nov. 3, in addition to cost alone, there is interest in vendors demonstrating the effectiveness of their device before the county makes a selection on a replacement. With respect to cost, the Request For Proposals is a solicitation for vendors to submit their best price for their product, so there isn't a finite cost yet. However, staff anticipates the cost to be approximately $2 million," Sanders-Pratt wrote.Although the timeline for this isn't 100% the same on both sides, the sheriff is grateful."That demonstrates that the squeaky wheel gets the oil. We're grateful for what the commissioners are doing now. Money and resources are being spent in this building. I will attribute some of that to your reporting that you've done because a lot of times when the public gets behind that, that's a game changer," Kimbrough said.Beyond the locks, another thing that will change, thanks to 12 Investigates, is a visit from the Forsyth County grand jury. The sheriff's office announced Tuesday, on Oct. 23, the Forsyth County grand jury will visit the jail and inspect it. The last time that was done was in 2019.Watch: NOWCAST streaming newscastsNAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Watch NOWCAST TV | Local News | National | News We LoveTrending Stories